The History of the Dodge Charger

The first-ever Dodge Charger debuted in 1966 and was built on the Dodge Coronet’s platform. Designed to compete with GM offerings, the car featured a swept fastback roofline and four bucket seats. The second-generation Charger debuted in 1968 and was partially designed in a wind tunnel to ensure peak performance. In 1969, Dodge released two special versions — the Charger 500 and the Charger Daytona. Both cars dominated NASCAR so completely that officials first restricted their engine outputs, then banned both cars from competition entirely. The third-generation Dodge Charger arrived in 1971 and featured a distinctive split grille and semi-swept roofline; like its predecessor, it was quite popular, although less revered by motor enthusiasts. The fourth-generation version of the car debuted in 1975 and was more upscale, but with rising gas prices and plummeting sales, the Dodge Charger was discontinued at the end of the 1978 model year. The car made a brief comeback in 1981 — the fifth-generation Charger was designed and engineered by the company’s European arm, but went out of production at the end of 1987. Then in 2006, following DaimlerChrysler’s successful rollout of the Dodge Magnum and Chrysler 300, a new Dodge Charger was released. It borrowed from 1999’s Dodge Charger R/T Concept design and featured muscle-car proportions, a menacing crosshair grille, and fastback-like roofline. Notably, it also featured powerful engines in a return to the car’s roots. The 2011 version paid homage to the second-generation Charger while the 2015 Hellcat version featured particularly impressive engines. In 2021, the Charger Hellcat Redeye was introduced, and the entire Dodge Charger lineup continues to be popular today.